Carb problems on 80 horse Mariner

"Hello, im new to the outboard

"Hello, im new to the outboard motor world. I have a 1979 80 horse Mariner, with serial number 5385541. Last week, we took the boat to the lake, and the motor was hard to start, and even harder to keep running. After about a half hour, we fianally got it started and let it idle for a good 10 minutes, but everytime I put it in gear to go, it would bog down and die. When I got the boat home, i pulled off the air box cover, and cranked the motor. It idles fine, but fuel is just pooring out of two jets/holes/i dont really know what they are on the bottom of the two carbs. I think i read somewhere that these are overflow jets or something. So much is flowing out in fact, that i had to sifon out a large amount out of the bottom cowl. I have had this boat since 1991, and its never given any problems, with the exception of hard starting after it sits for the winter. But when it runs, it runs good, good enough to push my 15ft bass boat 43 mph with two people in it. I need help figureing out what this problems is, and how I should go about fixing it. Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Phil"

"do you use fuel conditioner?

"do you use fuel conditioner? it sounds like your needles are not sealing carbs maybe worn or dirty. i would pull carbs and give them a good cleaning, also maybe check comp,spark."

"no, i havnt used a conditione

"no, i havnt used a conditioner, probably should have though. I was thinking the carbs probably needed to be rebuilt, how hard would it be to rebuild them?"

"not very hard to rebuild just

"not very hard to rebuild just need the right gaskets some cleaner and a little time. sometimes if you are very careful when disassembling you can just clean the carbs and reuse gaskets(i have done it several times) but its always best to at least have the gaskets on hand just incase they tear after all if you have an air or fuel leak youll be taking them off again.

make sure you clean allll the holes, orifices, jets, etc... goooood, i like to use a air nozzel when i clean mine, if you dont have air comp. you can use a single strand of copper wire to help clean everything but be careful when doing so you dont want to scratch any of these surfaces.

good luck!"

"well im glad to hear that the

"well im glad to hear that they are not too complicated. i have a air compressor,and plenty of other tools. I have a good bit of mechanical abiity, but Ive never dealt with carburators, since all my cars are fuel injected. i think i might buy a repair manual for the engine as well. thank you for your help.

Phil"